Square of a number being defined using #define

Question

I was just going through certain code which are frequently asked in interviews. I came up with certain questions, if anyone can help me regarding this?

I am totally confused on this now,

#include <stdio.h>
#include <conio.h>

#define square(x) x*x

main()
{
      int i, j;
      i = 4/square(4);
      j = 64/square(4);
      printf("\n %d", i);
      printf("\n %d", j);
      printf("\n %d", square(4));
      getch();
}

The output is:

 4
 64
 16

I am wondering, why did square(4) return 1 when I divided it? I mean, how can I get the value 4 and 64 when I divide it, but when used directly I get 16!!?

Answer 1

square is under-parenthesized: it expands textually, so

#define square(x) x*x
   ...
i=4/square(4);

means

i=4/4*4;

which groups as (4/4) * 4. To fix, add parentheses:

#define square(x) ((x)*(x))

Still a very iffy #define as it evaluates x twice, so square(somefun()) calls the function twice and does not therefore necessarily compute a square but rather the product of the two successive calls, of course;-).